Plans unveiled for artwork to honour discovery of the Staffordshire Hoard

A businessman and artist have joined together to create a permanent marker highlighting the discovery of The Staffordshire Hoard.

Robert Carr and sculptor Peter Walker are heading up a team which is designing a monument to celebrate the Anglo-Saxon finds.

Some of the items which make up The Staffordshire Hoard. Pic: Portable Antiquities Scheme

The Burntwood-based artist is aiming to help create a permanent sculpture commemorating the local connection to the Hoard, which was found in a field in Hammerwich.

He has recently been involved in a project to create the Scamp memorial to honour Burntwood’s mining past, while his Erasmus Darwin statue has also gone on display in Beacon Park.

Local councillor Susan Woodward has lent her support to the bid to create the new artwork and has urged other residents to get involved.

“Burntwood has a lot to shout about but for too long we’ve been treated as a poor relation and, let’s be honest, have acted like one.

“This initiative provides a great opportunity for us to celebrate our history and also look to promoting our town for the future. I hope every Burntwood resident will get behind this exciting plan.”

The project will see the creation of Hoard-related artworks developed in and around Burntwood, with a major “large scale” piece planned to symbolise the significance of the discovery site.

“We have been looking at the concept of creating this artwork since The Hoard was discovered in 2009, and have been undertaking much of the background work to get this project moving forward,” said Mr Carr, director of fine art and jewellery sales firm Rock 34. “As a businessman I see such initiatives as key in focusing attention back on the place where the Hoard was discovered and key in future tourism plans to develop the offer of the area.

“Public art is invaluable in helping to focus attention on the important factors of our heritage and these artworks will be long term investments in the area.”

Click below to see a video of Peter Walker’s Erasmus Darwin statue being unveiled in Lichfield: